


Safe with Thieves

by ImaKaraTabiHe



Category: Justice League - All Media Types, Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: Aliases, Child Abuse, Dysfunctional Family, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, New Family, Protective Leonard Snart, Protective Rogues, Wally Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-02
Updated: 2016-06-02
Packaged: 2018-07-11 20:31:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7068946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImaKaraTabiHe/pseuds/ImaKaraTabiHe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Wally's parents aren't happy with him.  Quite frankly, he's not happy with them either.  He's endured so much of their grief, but one day he finally pulls himself together and runs away.  What better place to run than to the Rogues?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Safe with Thieves

Months after becoming Kid Flash, Wally still remembers. He remembers why he hadn’t wanted his parents to find out. If he had ever been able to forget, the sick grin coupled with dark, twisted eyes was a reminder.

Wally was lucky it had taken his father months to realize his injuries healed faster or slower depending on the amount of food he ate and the fact that not eating was severely detrimental to his health. Or as his father put it – ‘So I can cause you even more pain now? _Delightful.’_

He had become a hero, someone who risked his life to save others, yet his father only saw him as a living stress relief toy. If the thought the beatings he got before his father still thought of him as a normal child were bad, now it was even worse. Everything at his home was worse.

The only thing his mother ever said on the subject was: ‘why couldn’t you be normal? You’re not my son. You’re just some monster.’ After that, she never stopped telling him what an unloved freak he was. She never stopped Rudy, her husband, and Mary just blamed everything on Wally.

The abuse had started when he was young. Before he met Uncle Barry and Aunt Iris. Before he met his pseudo-uncles: Hal, Oliver, and Bruce. It started so early that his one happy memory with them was when they once went to an ice cream parlor and enjoyed dessert there. He had sprinkles on his ice cream.

Wally didn’t remember when he’d decided not to tell anyone about the abuse. Over time it just stopped being an option. No one would believe him. No one would care. The one time he did slip up in front of Artemis, she just shrugged it off and scolded him from trying to make a big deal about nothing, After that he gave up. He gave up on hope. Became the perfect little doll. At least until one day h e snapped.

That day started like any other day. Wake up. Beg food while his mom called him pathetic. Get insulted by his day. Go to school. Get bullied. Go home and try to stay out of their sight..

Except that last bit didn’t turn out so great for him. In fact, it had turned out to be the absolute worst.

Wally trudged up the walkway to his house. It wasn’t his home. Not since the first blow. His body still ached from last night’s beating. It was a good thing he didn’t have anything to do at Mt. Justice. Any excuse he could give would just make him look like a careless idiot. He was used to playing the fool, but it was getting old and he was starting to break.

Wally opened the door slowly, body tense as adrenaline flooded his system. He held his breath, trying to be as silent as possible. If he was careful he could just slip up to his room.

But his hope was shattered when the door creaked closed. It _fucking creaked._ Just his luck.

Wally shut his eyes tightly, cursing good and evil alike. For a moment, there was silence and just when he thought he was safe, it all came crashing down. A hand jerked him bodily forward and he stumbled, the smell of alcohol filling his nose.

“There you are lil’ freak,” a slurred voice said. Wally hated how he trembled as the callused hand bit into his arm. He forced himself to look into the hateful eyes of his drunken father.

He jerked back as a hand slapped him across the left side of his face. His father’s voice ringing in his ears. “Pathetic lil’ piece of shit.. ungrateful bastard…’

Suddenly there's an onslaught of fists and boots hitting him, punching him and he does his best to curl up the floor, head protectively placed under his arms.

“Don' think so, lil' shit,' Rudy slurs, grabbing one arm and forcing it out. Wally's eyes widen as he looks up at his father, confused. Then he cries out as a foot comes down on his upper arm as a hand still holds his lower arm and twists, wrenching the elbow apart.

A scream rips threw Wally's throat as white hot pain lances through his arm.

“Shut up!” Rudy snarls and kicks his left temple causing blinding pain to burst in his head. Black dots dance in his vision and he lays there, stunned and in mind numbing pain as his father continues to beat him.

He blacks out twice before Rudy gets tired of breaking him. Rudy huffs, sweat on his brow and eyes glazed with disdain. “Clean up yer mess,” he commands the limp, bloody form. Blood's splattered over the floor and on the wall and door and his little fucker of a son made the mess so he'll clean it up.

Wally listens to his father's footsteps recede before he takes a deep, experimental breath that makes him gasp in pain. He knows without a doubt that he has three or more broken ribs, a broken cheekbone, a broken, useless arm and countless cuts and bruises. He can only be grateful that his father hadn't broken his legs. Strained them, bruised them, but not broken.

He shudders, pushing himself up with one arm, carefully. His vision blurs for a moment and he almost falls flat on his face as dizziness washes over him. Nausea bubbles up and before he can stop it his fourth snack and anything remaining from lunch is sprewing from his throat as he vomits.

Throwing up only makes everything hurt more and he gags again. He throws up until there's nothing left in his stomach, until bile burns his throat. There's an acrid taste in his mouth that makes him feel disgusted with himself.

The vomit on the floor is flecked with redness. Blood mixes in with it and if there was anything left in his stomach he'd throw up all over again. The sight is sickening and that's the thought he keeps in mind, distracting himself from pain. The horrible, disgusting sight of vomit and blood and the taste of bile in his mouth.

He finally forces himself up and takes a few staggering steps. His clothes are ruined and he knows that there's no chance of cleaning them because the bloodstains have already set and they won't be erased except in fire, burning all trace to ash.

It's so excerting to even hold himself up, which is why he leans against the door, his forehead pressing on the cool glass.

His father wants him to clean all the blood and now vomit up. Wally makes himself look at the floor again and he frowns. There's no chance it won't stain the floor too. He'll bleach everything, scrub like his life depended on it and when he finishes there will still be stains, then his father will beat him all over again.

Wally's not sure what he did to deserve this. He cooks and cleans, he does the laundry, he makes sure there's food for _them_ in the fridge. He's done his best to be the son his parents want him to be. Hiding his intelligence, hiding his powers, getting good grades, but nothing extraordinary.. Years, he's let this continue.

The thought of a second beating for doing his best, for trying to follow their wishes.. It sickens him. He's a goddamn  _superhero_ for fuck's sake. He's the fastest kid in the entire fucking world who's dedicated himself to protecting others and fighting crime.

While he's normally thought of himself as  _their_ son and how much he's deserved what's been done to him, in a moment of clarity, he can't ignore how much he's done for others and how little his parents think of him.

'I  _don't_ deserve  _this_ . I  _never_ have. Who beats their own  _son_ ?'

He grits his teeth as his eyes catch his arm lying limply at his side. Like something's come over him, righteous, burning anger flies through him.

' _No more!_ I am  _not_ taking this shit anymore!'

Wally takes a breath, a sharp, painful breath and forces himself to flash into the kitchen on unsteady feet. His father's probably passed out, drunk by now and his mother won't return home for a few days. She's on an expensive trip with her druggie boyfriend.

He finds four pre-peeled boiled eggs and forces them down his throat. It's not enough of a meal for a Speedster but it's enough to get him out of here. It's all his stomach can handle without rolling again. He downs a glass of his mom's expensive vitamin water ( _“guaranteed to make you look younger!”_ ) without a second thought.

There's a bottle of beer still left in there that his father hadn't managed to find and he opens it up and dumps the whole thing out in the sink, watching it flow down the drain with a feeling of satisfaction. 'Drunk ass loser,' he thinks, smirking a little at the image of his father coming down for another drink and finding his last beer gone.

He leaves the bottle with a note, sloppily written with his left hand (at least he's learned to write with both) that says: 

_This stuff will kill you one day, so I took the pleasure of getting rid of the last one for you. Enjoy, Dad._

_-Wally_

Within minutes after the note is finished, he makes himself flash out of the house. He doesn't want the boiled eggs to disappear in his metabolism too fast. Once they're gone, he'll be on empty and an empty stomach doesn't allow him to heal as fast as a Speedster normally does.

Another wave of dizziness hits and he's force to stop in an alley, somewhere in the middle of Central. It's getting dark so no one notices a blood splattered, broken kid, leaning on an alley wall looking like he's about to die.

Wally's limbs are trembling – beyond trembling, but not quite vibrating because he doesn't have the energy for that. Wally groans as his broken arm trembles, the only movement that occurs with it.

He leans against the alley wall, ignoring the putrid smells of the dumpsters. 'What am I going to do?' Wally whines to himself. He doesn't think he can go to his uncle. He doesn't want to admit that he was too weak. Doesn't want any of his friends to look at him with pity and treat him like he's fragile.

Still without a plan, Wally decides to keep going. He's got to get as far away as possible before his father calls his uncle and tells him some made up bullshit about how be got this hurt and how “worried” his father is about him. No way in hell is he going back to that pathetic excuse of a home.

He flashes out of the alley and through the streets, squinting as buildings, cars, people blur together. Not paying attention to where he is or where he's going, he runs.

Sudden weakness causes him to skid to a halt, legs feeling like jelly beneath him. “Fuck!” Wally curses. There's no one around to see him. No one to help him. He slams a hand against the side of a building in order to remain upright.

His stomach growls and it only makes him nauseous again. 'Damn it, stupid stomach,' Wally swears. The boiled eggs are gone and there were no more with him, nothing actually, that would be able to give him enough energy to keep going.

Faintly, he hears the clatter of glass and the sounds of chatter. There's a faint smell of alcohol that makes him shiver with fear. He lifts his head enough to scan the area.

Wally sucks in a breath as his eyes land on a sign of the next building down – Saints & Sinners. It's the Rogues' bar, where they hang out when they aren't in jail or on a heist. Wally bites his lip, nervously. 'They'd help me..' But he's afraid of just waltzing in there – or stumbling in his case. He's afraid of bothering them.

They have a close relationship, closer than that of Flash and the Rogues, because somehow Wally's become their 'Baby Flash'. He's not in costume now, but he has little doubt that they don't know who he is already. Len always seemed to know things before he did, things he shouldn't know.

He doesn't want them to see him like this. He's supposed to be strong, a hero, but he feels anything but. Still, he has little choice right now. If he doesn't find somewhere safe, somewhere to get food and get patched up, he'll most likely die.

Wally pulls his bloody jacket around him as he looks up at the glow of the night sky. It's late and the lights in the bar are usually dim enough in some areas that dark colors just look a big mesh of black. 'Maybe… they won't notice?'

Bracing himself he half limp, half stumbles over to the door and pushes it in just wide enough for him to slip in. He finds a shadowy corner to look around the room from.

James is with Hartley, looking over some pictures – most likely pages from a coloring book – while Sam and Digger at chatting over drinks at a table. Mick and Len are seated at the bar with Mick looking at a flaming drink obsessively as Len grins, amused.

“Omf!” Someone knocks into Wally and he goes flying onto the floor, one arm out to try to stop his fall. It's barely enough to keep him from landing on his broken arm. It makes his ribs protest venomously as a pained hiss escapes his lips.

“Ba-” a tentative voice starts to ask before there's the sound of a slap and then Hartley's speaking. “Wally?” Glancing up Wally sees that Hartley's got his hand over James' mouth which is good because he's sure that James was about to say 'Baby Flash' and that would just blow his secret identity to smithereens.

“What.” Len – Cold's voice demands, silencing any conversations in the bar. Len's turned to see what's going on and his eyes are narrowed. Wally's not sure if it's bright enough to differentiate between his clothes' own colors and the bloodstains, but he doesn't find himself caring much at all.

“Everyone but the Rogues, out.” Len grits out as he marches over to Wally on the floor, sprawled out. Mick follows, frowning. Sam and Digger were making sure that any curious stragglers or drunks too dumb to recognize Captain Cold.

“Wally,” Len bent down in front of him before frowning and ordering, “Hart, turn up the lighting!”

Wally gasped and shook his head, groaning at the pain and nausea it caused. “Don't-”

Wally looked at the floor, not wanting to see anyone's face as the lights became brighter.

“Shit!” Someone yelped.

This was not what Len had expected tonight at all. Have a few drinks, plan a heist with the Rogues, check up on local criminal gossip, yes. Seeing their Baby Flash out of costume looking bloody and beat to hell? No fucking way.

There's a color on his cheek that looks just like it's blackening and there's no way that cheekbone isn't broken. Laborous breathing? Broken ribs. And his arm is just dangling at his side. That is so broken.

Len grits his teeth, an audible crack as his jaw tightens. “What the fuck,” Mick exclaims gruffly. Len whole heartedly agrees with Mick's sentiment.

“Sam,” Len grinds out, “get the Speedster med-kit.” It's there for special occasions that the Kid gets beat during a heist or some mission and he comes to them. Hopefully it has everything they need for their Baby Flash in this condition. This is the first time they've seen him so broken.

“Shit, Kid,” Len mutters as he and Mick gingerly pick up Wally, grimacing as he whimpers in pain, face scrunched up.

When Wally's eyes roll back into his head and he blacks out, Len curses. “Shit, shit, shit.”

“Baby Flash,” James wails in Hartley's grasp to keep him from throwing himself at the kid.

Digger swipes the bar counter clear of beer bottles and shot glasses, not even flinching at the sound of glass shattering. Sam grabs Wally's shoulder and helps Mick and Len ease him onto the counter.

Grabbing scissors, Sam slices through Wally's bloody clothing, ripping them away. He doesn't bother allowing himself to growl in anger or hiss in sympathy as injury after injury is revealed. The others, however, do. James starts sobbing in Hartley's arms, who looks at the scene with glazed eyes.

“What do you need, Sam?” Len asks as Sam pulls the med-kit for Speedsters open and begins pulling things out. Sam pulls out an IV set. “Get this started,” he tells Len before he looks at Mick and hands him alcohol and towels saying, “Get any injuries cleaned up.”

Len and Mick waste no time at getting to work on their tasks. They try not to allow themselves to feel. If they do, they know that they'll lose their shit and right now they can't afford to lose it.

Sam gets to work on Wally's broken arm. He silently thanks any gods, all gods, that Wally is unconscious as he feels the bones. It's popped out of socket at the elbow and it's got a break on the upper arm side. In short, it's fucked.

“ _God_ ,” Sam swears as he sets about pulling the bones in place without jostling them too much. They Speedster proof IV should kick in soon and he needs to make sure the bones are aligned and set so that they'll heal properly.

Fitting the broken bone into the elbow socket is tedious beyond a shred of doubt. He has to be extra careful so that it doesn't cause the already broken section to splinter. It takes him way too long, but he finally gets the bones in place. He wraps it in a split to keep it from being jostled out of position.

Sweat beaded on his brow, he looks up to find Len's finished with the IV and he's set about helping Mick clean the wounds. There are a multitude of them, but with two, they're almost done.

Shifting between them, Sam feels the rest of Wally's body for broken or fractured bones. He can feel the break under his fingers as he moves to his ribcage. Four. He winces because he knows it would hurt if Wally were awake, but since he's not, he's wincing for him.

There's also the cheekbone. A few fingers on his not broken arm. The cheekbone will have to heal on its own, but the fingers, he sets and splints.

“Cold,” Sam gasps as he begins to see the pattern the bruises are forming now that he's bandaged the broken bones. Len looks up at Sam, eyes cold as he nods. “I know.”

The pattern of fist and hand shaped bruises that layer Wally's body are more than visible. It sets their blood alight.

Sam pushes down his anger like he sees Len doing and stitches some gashes closed. Digger pops over, holding out ice packs. Len and Mick take them wordlessly and begin to ice the worst of the bruises.

He's almost all patched up when a soft whine escapes his throat. The Rogues scramble to his side and someone dims the light.

“Wally?” Len asks softly. Wally's eyes crack open a little, face swollen from the beating. He hasn't healed much at all yet. There's just so much.

“Hn?” Wally grunts, cheek aching, body aching.

Sam bites his lip as he sutures a few more stitches, watching Wally wince each time before he ties the thread off and cuts it.

“How are you feeling?” Sam questions, drawing Wally's distant eyes towards him.

“..'itty...”

Mick's hands clench tightly into fists as he watches Wally's brows furrow with confusion.

“..'ere?”

Len runs his fingers dantily through Wally's ginger, bloody hair. “You're at the Rogues' bar, kid,” Len tells him. “You're safe.”

While that should've made him feel better, Wally's breath quickened, ribs creaking under the stress. “Ssh, ssh, kid,” Len shushes him. “Calm down.”

Wally's unbroken arm flies up to grab one of Len's and his good fingers curl around the thief's arm. “Baby Flash?” James frowns, concerned.

“Can' 'ell...”

Hartley blinks, confused as he deciphers Wally's latest slurred words. “Who can't we tell?”

Len's eyes flicker over to Hartley then back to Wally. “Kid?”

Wally groans, tightening his hold as much as he can on Len's arm which isn't much considering. “'lash.. Can' 'ell 'lash..”

_Flash. Can't tell Flash._

When no one answers him, Wally tugs on Len's arm, causing pain to ripple through his body. Afraid he'll hurt himself if they don't assure him they won't, they're quick to tell him that they won't tell Flash.

Sam replaces the first IV, now empty, with a second, watching as the reassured Wally's eyes slowly slid shut as he fell asleep. Sam had made sure to add one of the rare dosages of Speedster proof pain medicines to the second IV bag, regretting how he had been too panicked to add it to the first. “He's just asleep,” he tells the worried Rogues.

For ten minutes, they stand there, watching Wally's chest heave as he takes breath after breath. It's like they need proof he isn't going to die of the horrendous injuries they've seen.

“Who are we burning?” Mick demands, eyes on fire with rage.

Len loosens Wally's grip on his arm and lays the kid's hand by his side. Thoughts whirl around his mind as he tries to control his own damn emotions and rage. He wants to ice everyone who hurt him and who allowed him to be hurt.

“Hartley,” Len commands in his Cold voice, “hack the Tower. Hack everything and see if the kid's been in a fight that could cause this.” It's unlikely, but if they're going to get the sons of bitches who did this to their Kid, he needs all answer all questions about possibilities.

Hartley nods briefly before he disappears to the Rogues' backroom of the bar.

“Sam, keep an eye on Flash,” Len orders. Flash will be around sometime and he doesn't want to be caught off guard. The kid had said not to tell him, but that didn't mean they couldn't keep an eye on and maybe question the Speedster. Sam nods, casting an anxious glance at Wally before he disappears into the Mirror World.

“Digger, James, keep an eye on the kid.” Len glances at Mick, who nods. Mick's thinking exactly what he's thinking.

They slip their guns into their coats, glancing over once more at Wally, who lay asleep on the counter as James pulled his coat over him. He'll have to be taken to one of their safe houses so he can sleep in a real bed and recover, but for now they need to make sure he's safe, that no one is coming after him.

Len slips into the passenger side of a car that they kept specifically to get around town without the police being suspicious, which means that it's not stolen persay, it's just under some alias' name. Mick slides into the drivers seat and begins driving without Len having to say a word about where.

After the third time that Wally as Kid Flash had come around and hung out with them, they'd researched him, found where he lived, what he liked. They even found out that he wanted a pet fox named Kits but was turned down by his parents.

Wally lived with his mom and dad in a decent sized house that had some hardy, no-need-to-care-much-for flowers. It had four rooms: Wally's bedroom, his parents', a guest room, and the living room and kitchen bled together.

Pulling up at the house, it looked as it always had, despite being aged. What concerned them was the lack of lights on in the house. There was one in his parents' room on, dimly, but nothing else. No flashing TV lights, no kitchen lights. It was dinnertime, but there didn't seem to be anything going on.

“There's no one waiting for him,” Mick noted as they closed the car doors. Len hated to admit it, but Mick was right. What parents didn't worry about their child when he didn't show up for dinner?

Len frowned and walked up to the house. The streets were oddly deserted and there were no neighbors peeking out at the usual guests next door.

Len didn't bother raising his hand to knock on the door. This wasn't a social call, this was serious business. He jiggled the doorknob and found it unlocked. With an exchanged glance with Mick, they were both keeping a hand on their guns.

Opening the door was something he wishes he didn't do. There was the distinct metallic smell of blood and something rotten. Len had to breath through his mouth in order to keep from gagging. Mick choked as he hurried to do the same.

“Mick,” Len simply said. Mick pulled out a lighter and clicked until a solitary flame cast light into the dark house.

“Shit,” Mick cursed as his eyes landed on the floor. Len's eyes where quick to follow and seeing what Mick saw he felt the need to swear as well.

“Is that..?” Len nodded. Blood and vomit covered the floor. There were vague imprints of a child's body in the blood as well as footsteps from small sneakers. It wasn't hard to figure out that this was where Wally had been beaten. This was where it all happened.

But.. who did it? Did they get to his parents?

Len's eyes narrowed at the scene as theories played out in his head. Mick flipped on a lamp instead of the room's light and growled as he saw the way the blood splattered on the wall and floor.

There was a thud that interrupted the silence of the house and Mick and Len automatically tensed. Footsteps pounded slowly towards the doorway and Mick and Len gripped their guns beneath their coats.

The room's light flipped on and everything was much brighter now. It made the two Rogues squint as they adjusted to the brighter light.

“Wally, ya pathetic piece of shit! How dare ya dump my last beer! Ya better hav' bought more beer!” A voice bellowed with anger and hatred.

Mick and Len were similarly stunned by both what they saw and heard. From their research they knew what the kid's parents looked like. But the average looking man now looked upon them with a drunken rage that made him appear more like a low level crook than ever before. His face was contorted with disdain and his eyes looked bent on beating someone.

Len gritted his teeth with the realization that this was Wally's father and he thought that they were Wally. This face, this act, this hatred was for his own  _son_ .

Empty beer cans and bottles littered the living room and there was shimmering bits of broken glass. _This_ is where Wally lived? _This_ was what he lived with? Where was his mom? There were no signs of a woman's touch.

Len glanced at Mick quickly to see his jaw open, gaping at Wally's pathetic excuse for a father, unable to believe what he saw. Len knew though. After living with his abusive asshole of a father, he knew who had hurt their Baby Flash and Len was more than livid.

“Who're ya!?” Rudy bellowed, knuckles bruised and eyes glaring. “'ll call the cops if ya don' get outta my house!”

Len felt his jaw pop as he gritted out, “We're here because we know what you've been doing to your son.” Len pulled out his Cold gun, training it on Rudy. He didn't have to see to know that Mick was doing the same with his Heat gun.

Rudy scoffed, unaware of the danger he was in. “Ya mean that piece of trash? It's call educating! Shit can't do nothing right!”

“Why you little bastard..” Mick started towards Rudy, gun powering up, intent on turning Wally's former father into a pile of ash.

“Hold on, Mick,” Len bit out, despite the fact that he was more than a little hopeful to see the sorry excuse for a father burn alive.

“How long...” Len growled.

Rudy smirked, hauntingly. “Five.”

Mick's nostrils flared with the desire to see the man in front of him scream in agony. Len's finger twitched on the trigger of his Cold gun.

Burying his  murderous desire, he stalked over to Rudy, dodging a clumsy punch and bringing the butt of his Cold gun down on Rudy's head. Rudy cried out and crumbled, holding his head as tears built up in his eyes. “You're the sorriest excuse for a father I've ever seen,” Len hissed, shooting a stream of ice of Rudy's left arm.

It was quite satisfying to see Rudy whimper in pain. Mick stomped passed Len and sucker punched Rudy in the jaw before he proceeded to break the man's leg under his foot.

Mick watched as Len took Rudy's head and whacked it against the floor so hard Rudy passed out. Taking Rudy by the collar, Len looked around the room one last time and glared at the bloody mix on the floor. “C'mon Mick,” Len ordered.

Mick followed Len out of the house, unceremoniously throwing the  unconscious shit on the pavement outside. “Feel like burning something?” Len asked, eying the house that looked so unsuspecting from the outside.

Eyes sparkling with excitement, Mick grinned. “Ooh yeah!” Powering up the Heat gun, Mick chuckles with a dark excitement as flames lick the side of the house, engulfing it. Len doesn't share the same fascination with fire, but he can't help but feel content knowing that this dark place where Wally's suffered so much is toast.

Lights flicker on in houses nearby and he grabs Mick. “Time to go,” he says urging Mick into the car. Mick grumbles about leaving such a nice fire alone, but doesn't fight Len.

They skid out of there almost as fast as Flash without taking a second look at the man they left with the iced arm. He'll lose the arm, Len knows and it makes him smile darkly.

The lost of an arm and a few broken bones isn't comparable to what's been done to Wally. Years of abuse at the hands of his family. Oh Len knows Wally's mother wasn't there, but he knows there's been no divorce and if his mother had been there for Wally, he'd be somewhere safe now. Len can only assume that his mother let it happen and is off enjoying her short life now. (Short because Len is going to make sure she pays too.)

'At least she doesn't have a house to come home to now,' Len contemplates, already making plans to research her more thoroughly so that he'll know exactly how to make her beg for mercy.

They ditch the car at a pre-arranged place that they've saved for car exchanges during heists. Hopefully no one got a look at the car before they made their exit because if they did, they'll have to burn it and despite the fact that Mick would enjoy that, losing a car isn't fun. A lot goes into a clean car that wouldn't lead back to them.

While they're getting a new car, they get a text from Hartley, telling them that they moved to safe house #5. It makes Len's lips curl in a proud smirk. His Rogues know that the bar isn't the safest place to keep a hero kid and they've moved him to a better place without Len's prompting. Yes, they did well.

Len shows the message to Mick who huffs about not getting a drink, but he climbs in the new clean car they've picked out to make the venture across the city.

As Mick drives, he side eyes Len. “What now?”

Len looks over from the window at Mick, face blank but eyes oddly explosive. “We keep him,” Len states.

Mick's eyebrow goes up, giving Len an unamused look. “What about Flash?”

Len snorts a little. “What about Flash? If he can't see his sidekick is getting beat to death at home, are we really going to trust him with the kid's recovery?”

Mick's eyes narrow, glaring at the road. “No,” Mick seethes. “We're not.”

Len smiles a little, genuinely at his friend's pure unadulterated anger at Central City's resident hero who had seen _nothing_ for years. Len has to admit, he's not pleased with the oblivious hero. He knows that sometimes those things are often hidden by great acting, having done it himself years ago. Hell, they were all fooled by the kid's frivolous attitude. Kid was a fan-damn-tastic actor. They're going to have to watch out for that in the future.

Despite the feeling of guilt that curls around him like a blanket, Len shakes it off. They might not have seen it then, but they see it now and they aren't going to let it go.

They get out of the car, slamming the doors a bit harder than they should, but what do they care?

Entering the house, they pick out those in plain view. Hartley's on the couch with his computer, typing away with Digger beside him. The door to the guest room is open and they can vaguely see the colorful clothing of James who must be watching over Wally. Sam isn't there but there's the giant mirror hanging on the wall that they use when Sam has to make a trip to the Mirror World which means he's still in there.

Digger and Hartley look up as Mick and Len close the door behind them. “What happened?” Hartley asked, carefully taking note of Len and Mick's faces, unusually red with anger.

Mick grunts, not answering as he goes straight to the fridge and opens it. He sighs, happily as he pulls out and uncaps a beer before taking a long swig of it.

“Call Sam back,” Len says as he walks over the open room. He looks at James, sitting with his legs to his chest on a chair beside the bed, eyes locked on Wally's bandaged form that makes him seem even smaller than he already is.

“How is he?”

James slowly slides his eyes to meet Len's. He looks absolutely broken and his eyes are red from crying.  James sniffs, miserably as he looks back at Wally, untangling himself to reach out and run a gentle hand over his unbroken cheek. “Healing; slowly.”

Len nods a little. “Join us in the living room.” Len keeps his eyes on James until he inclines his head slightly. Seeing the agreement, Len makes his way back into the living room.

Sam's sitting on the armrest of the couch, looking a bit tired, but brows furrowed with confusion and curiosity. “What's going on, Cold?”

Len plops down on a chair with Mick seated on another beside him, sipping a beer. When he hands Len a beer, Len thanks him and opens it, taking a long drink himself. James slips in as Sam, Digger, and Hartley eye him seriously. Seeing Cold drink beer during such an important situation did not mean good news. It's bad.

“So?” Digger questions, frowning.

Len and Mick exchange glances. There's really no delicate way to put this. No way to make it any better. Mick gruffly bites out, “It was the kid's  _father_ .”

There are several sharp intakes of breath as silence settles over the room so that they can process the words, the meaning.

“ _What!?_ ” Hartley practically screams until James' hands clamp around Hartley's mouth. Hartley glares at James until James glares back and snaps, “Baby Flash's sleeping. Keep your voice down!”

Hartley winces a little before he nods and James' hands slip away from his mouth. He takes a deep breath before he tries again. “What do you mean it was the Wally's father?”

“Just what Mick said. The one who beat the kid to Hell? It was his father,” Len told them, voice cold.

“Walked in his house and there was blood 'n puke everywhere. Beer bottles too,” Mick grunts. “Mother wasn't there, but his father came out yelling that the kid was supposed to clean up his 'mess'. We had a little chat with him and he said he was ' _educating him_ '.” Mick growls out the last bit with a fury that tells Len he wants to go back and burn Rudy's body to ash.

Len's not sure anyone would stop him. Hartley, Digger, and Sam look like they would go with him gladly. James even looks like he'd bury the body singing joyfully about Rudy's demise. “He hurt our Baby Flash!” James hisses.

Len nods, watching their reactions carefully.

“Tell me we're killing him,” James demands, almost as cold as Captain Cold. Len winced at the unusual suggestion from the normally bubbly, giggly Trickster. Everyone except Hartley looks similarly disturbed by the 180 from James' usual personality. Hartley just shrugged and said, “So?”

Len sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “We're not killing him.”

James glared at Len, opening his mouth to most likely yell before Hartley interrupted him, “Why not?”

Mick looked just as curious so Len sat forward in the chair. “Because we kill him and suddenly it's a manhunt. We can't keep the kid safe if we're thrown in jail for murder.”

James relented at the thought of keeping his Baby Flash safe, but he didn't look satisfied.

“So 'is father gets away scott free?” Digger snarls.

Len shakes his head. “No.”

Mick interrupts with a distant look and a bright smile. “Broke his bones. Len iced his left arm. Burned his house down,” the last bit being said a bit gleefully.

Len can't help but chuckle at the happy look Mick gives as he tells them about burning down Rudy's house. James smiles with a happy look of his own and claps. “Yay! Bye bye housie!”

Hartley rolls his eyes at James' antics, but everyone lets out a breath they'd been holding since James had gotten pissed off. He was the most unpredictable and an angry Trickster was trouble.

“Think 'll lose the arm?” Digger asks. It's Sam who answers with a grin. “Definitely.” Digger nods, acceptingly.

Sam meets Len's eyes, one of the more normal of the Rogues. “Now what?”

“We keep him,” Len answers. Brows furrow with confusion.

“We 'keep him'?”

Mick nods. “You really want him to go with the Flasher who couldn't even tell Kid was being beat at home?”

The listening Rogues shake their heads, violently in James' case. “Then we're keeping him,” Mick affirms.

“And if Flash comes looking for him?” Sam questions, not arguing, just purely curious.

Len raises an eyebrow and cooly replies. “We haven't seen him.”

An hour later, the Justice League is searching for him. Hartley picks up the communications over his computer. He's hacked into their frequency and he sits there and listens to the frantic pleas of Flash for someone, anyone to find Wally. He sounds broken when he begs, but no Rogues make a move to tell him.

Batman orders the League to treat this as an attack on a League relative and that Kid Flash has been kidnapped. Mick snorts, finding his own identity as a “kidnapper” amusing as compared to his normal pyromaniac.

They listen to transmissions from the League throughout the night, eating Chinese food that Digger has gone out to get from a 24/7 joint down the road. Sam checks on the kid regularly but he doesn't wake up until dawn breaks.

Wally wakes up disorientated and confused, but Len tells him what happened, how he got there, and what followed. When Len relays that he heard Rudy lost the arm he iced, Wally looks at him, face blank and says, “Good.”

Kid doesn't even fight when Len tells him that they aren't returning him to Flash. It makes Len's heart ache when he doesn't fight to be back with his hero. Len knows how much Wally looks up to Flash, but maybe recognizing that he finally had to save himself leaves him feeling a bit disillusioned?

Or maybe not. When Len goes out to make sure that Flash doesn't come busting through the city looking for him and Mick as suspects, Wally asks him to make sure Flash is okay. It makes him almost smile as he plays twenty questions with Flash about where he was and whether or not he'd iced someone recently. Len's good at persuading Flash that it couldn't have been him because he doesn't even have a reason to ice some random nobody.

Flash still looks a little uneasy when he leaves Len, but he looks more convinced than he had before so Len counts it as a win. He stops by and picks up a few pizzas for lunch and takes them back to safe house #10, slipping through a mirror with Sam's help in case anyone tried to follow him.

Wally looks a lot better when Sam checks him over he allows him to have pizza. The breaks are healing well and will probably be healed by nightfall. The bruises have already faded almost completely and Wally has more color. He hardly winces when he speed eats pizza. He even gives Mick the finger when Mick complains about his messy eating.

Everyone laughs at Mick's affront face before he's laughing too.  Len grins when Wally whines at James planting a sloppy kiss on his cheek and hugs him delicately.

They decide to stay in that safe house for the next few days, despite Wally having healed on the second night there. The League and Wally's kid hero team are out tearing apart the world for their kid, but even Wally ignores the reports of the Young Justice team looking for him. Len doesn't ask if he wants to see him and Wally doesn't say, so he figures it's okay.

Fourth day, Len gets the courage to ask Wally whether he wants to keep being a hero. Wally frowns, looking at Len with conflicted eyes. Len tells him he doesn't have to chose now, he has time. Wally nods slowly before saying that he'll take some time to think it over. It's better than Len could hope for.

A few days turn into weeks. They move to a new safe house when it feels like the Justice League is getting close to that one. Wally has nightmares every night. He wakes up screaming and begging not to be hurt. His panic stricken face breaks their hearts, but they wordlessly pile in with him and hold him when the nightmares get so scary they wake him up. He doesn't say anything when he curls up against them, trembling.

A month since they took in Wally, they pull a heist. Being silent and still wasn't like the Rogues. It would make the heroes too suspicious, so they let Wally stay on their comm system that Hartley has hooked up, secure from any prying ears and he gives them advice when the police, Flash and Green Lantern show up to stop them. They manage to make a clean get away while Flash is trapped in some of Tricksters glue and Green Lantern is deposited in Keystone thanks to Mirror Master. The police are the easiest to stop with Pied Piper, Heatwave, and Captain Cold.

They buy Wally a laptop with the earnings from that heist and get him into an online school so he can keep up with his school work. Hartley has already made him an alias so he can shrug off his old one.  His alias is Irish, named Wally Iar, who's parents sent him to America on a scholarship for schooling. It makes him laugh but everyone knows he looks the part anyways.

Two months later, Wally dons a new hero identity. His costume is black with electric blue and fire red stripes criss crossing along his sides. He has a cowl that covers his hair this time. He hates it, but red hair would give him away in an instant combined with his super-speed. He calls himself Burst.

Using Sam's mirror, he keeps to Iowa and speeds through the entire state, patrolling each major city, one a night. It's close enough for comfort but far enough that no one will suspect him for a few more weeks.

Burst makes the headline of Omaha, IA when he saves a school from being torn up by a tornado. The Rogues had watched, on the edge of their seats with concern when Flash and a few other heroes had shown up afterwards. Wally had hardly given them two sentences before he flashed away, helping to sort the most damaged areas out and then fled back to Saints & Sinners in his civvies.

Len had laughed, anxiety fading away at the  gob-smacked appearances of Flash and his hero friends when Wally just left them there. It looked like Flash had gone to look for him, but had turned up empty when Wally appeared back at the bar with them.

Mick ruffled Wally's hair, proudly and James high-fived him. Digger nodded towards him with a grin and Sam bandaged his cuts. When he looked up at Len, nervously, Len simply smiled at him and told him that he did an excellent job. The way the tension faded from Wally's body told them that he had been worried Flash would take him back. They would've never allowed that though.

Hartley keeps an eye on police reports regarding Wally, but Central City police has nothing new. The Rogues can't help but grin when Wally's mother, Mary, turns up to file a report about her bank account being emptied. They made sure to drain her account when they had pulled a smoke screen heist at another bank to cover up for taking her money. They left some stolen jewelry in her safe deposit box that the police proceeded to arrest her for.

It's a year into their “adoption” of Wally when he races into their current safe house from a nearby mirror portal they'd set up to connect to a place in Iowa. He looks panic stricken, almost as afraid as he usually did after being woken by nightmares.

“What's wrong, Kid?” Sam asks, frowning at his appearance. Len, Mick, and Digger set aside their card game, brows furrowing in concern. James and Hartley pop their heads out from the kitchen, curious.

“They know,” Wally blurts out, pulling his cowl down, revealing his wide eyes. “Oh my god, they know! I slipped up and it's all my fault and now they know!”

He's practically vibrating in place when Len slides over to him and pulls him against his chest. “Calm down, kid,” he urges. “What do they know?”

Wally whines, curling his arms around Len as best he could, grip tight. “I was stopping a heist and- and the Team showed up. They were there to ask me some questions and- they did this whole telepathy thing and I guess I'm still in tune with them or something- I don't know, but I heard them in my head and-- It was just reflex!” Wally wailed. “I told them to go back to the Mountain and leave me alone!”

Len exchanges looks with the other Rogues, worry apparent on their faces. They're not sure how to handle this. Len takes a deep breath and calms his own fears down.

“Sssh, Wally,” Len softly tells him. “It'll be okay.”

The Rogues look at him dubiously, but he shrugs it off. Wally rubs his teary face into Len's chest and Len lets out a breath. “Come on, let's get you changed and you can have some Thai that Sam ordered, okay?”

Wally nods, sullen as he detaches from Len and flashes into the room he shares with James and Hartley to shower and change.

Len sighs, running a hand through his hair as he sits on a chair heavily. “Now what?” Mick asks gruffly.

“By now news has spread through the League about Burst's identity.” Len takes a breath before he says, “So we tell them.”

Eyes narrow as Hartley asks, “We 'tell them'?”

Len shrugs. “If we don't, the next time Burst makes an appearance, they'll take him away.”

Mick growls and James crosses his arms. Digger grinds his teeth and Hartley stares.

“They won't take him if they know,” Len tells them, adding silently 'most likely.'

There are a few nods, until Hartley speaks up, “And if they do?”

Len's eyes narrow dangerously. “If they do? We take them down.”

Taking down the Justice League is the craziest idea ever. It's so insane that even the Joker wouldn't do it and he's got so many loose screws you can hear them rattle when he laughs. But the Rogues are willing to do it. They might not have done it a year ago, before this whole mess, but after getting to know and live with Wally? They'd do it in a heartbeat.

“Fuck yes,” Mick smirks, already thinking about turning things to ash. James giggles gleefully and the others look determined.

Wally flashes into the living room, all changed and with his hair still dripping a little from the shower. He's in one of Mick's shirts which has got to smell faintly of smoke but it looks like he doesn't mind. It's a little big on him, showing his collar bone and they have to admit he looks absolutely adorable it.

“Awweee,” James coos as he throws his arms around Wally, hugging him tightly. Wally's cheeks turn red and he grumbles about the hug but hugs James back anyways. He's gotten used to James' over affection.

Len snorts while the others chuckle at the spectacle. When Wally manages to slip from James' grasp, Len clears his throat to grab his attention.

“Wally,” he begins, “I think it's time we told them. Are you okay with that?”

It worries Len how the color drains from Wally's face and suddenly he looks as pale as the vanilla bean ice cream that they learned he loves so much with sprinkles. Len thinks for a second there Wally will disagree, but when he simply bites his lip and nods, putting on a brave face, Len can't help but smile.

“We'll be with you the whole way,” Len assures him, as the Rogues, not needing any prompting add in their promises of sticking by Wally's side. They eat lunch, stomachs churning, sometimes having to distract Wally to ensure that he kept eating enough to sustain him.

The Rogues gear up afterwards, letting Wally slip into a clean suit, fussing over his appearance in an anxious gesture.

“Jamesss,” Wally whines, “I look fineeee.” James tucks Wally's hair under his cowl one way and then proceeds to “fix” any mistakes he perceives. “No. You have to look your best Baby Flash. We're meeting your family today,” James replies seriously. Wally mutters something about how his hair isn't visable under his cowl so it doesn't matter, but lets James do as he likes.

When James is satisfied, they all collectively step through Mirror Master's portal and walk into the Flash Museum of Cental. Burst looks around like a little duckling, excited about where they came out at. The Rogues can't help but grin as their Baby Flash appears in front of a display depicting Captain Cold vs. Flash, ignoring the hustle as civilians fled the building.

“Been a while, hasn't it Baby Flash?” Trickster sings. Burst nods, smiling fondly at the familiar place. The Rogues chuckle a little before they tense up, hearing the familiar sound of super-speed.

Burst flashes over next to the Rogues. They surround him on either side, bodies protective of him.

“Flash,” Cold drawls, annoyed as is his default when dealing with the adult Speedster.

Flash appears before them followed a minute later by Batman, Green Lantern, Superman, Green Arrow,  and Robin. The heroes narrow their eyes at the Rogues, gaze flickering to the one in the middle – Burst.

Burst fidgets nervously as a heavy atmosphere descends upon the room. Neither the heroes nor the Rogues seem to move a muscle as they eye one another.

Rolling his eyes under his mask, Robin takes a step forward. “...Wally?”

Burst freezes, eyes most likely wide under the cowl making him look like a deer in someone's headlights. It's a nice look on him sometimes, but this isn't one of those times.

Robin bites his lip, obviously unsettled himself as he waits for an answer. Heatwave puts a hand behind Burst and nudges him forward an inch, not enough for the heroes to be able to reach him, keeping him close enough for the Rogues to protect him.

Burst clears his throat and hesitates before Cold reaches out and squeezes his shoulder in a comforting gesture. Seeing a nod from Cold, Burst reaches up and pulls off his cowl to reveal his freckled face and ginger hair.

Flash sucks in a breath, shocked. “Wally!”

Wally looks at them shyly before he lifts his hands and waves, nervously. “Hi Flash, guys.”

Surprisingly it was Robin who raced across the distance between the two opposing sides and threw his arms around Wally, who stumbled only to be steadied by Boomer and Heatwave. “Oomf!”

Robin hugged Wally tightly, trembling. “You're okay! You're okay..” Wally hugged him back just as tightly. “I'm okay,” Wally repeated to calm down the boy.

“What happened?” Batman demanded, interrupting the two teen's reunion. Flash looked like he wanted to race over to Wally's side, but restrained himself, not knowing what to do.

Robin and Wally pulled away from each other as the heroes glared at the Rogues and Wally, who was biting his lip, afraid. Robin took one of Wally's hands and squeezed lightly. Wally sent him a small smile.

It was touching to see how the boy was able to comfort Wally. They felt a little bad for separating the two who were obviously good friends.

Cold narrowed his eyes at Batman, glaring just as hard as he got in return. “What happened was that none of you could see what was right in front of your damn eyes. For a bunch of do-gooders you're sure blind to the truth,” Cold barely restrained himself from snapping out.

The heroes frowned, Robin examining Wally for any sign of what he meant. “What do you mean?” Flash asked, lost.

“What he means is that Baby Flash's dad was hurting him!” Trickster angrily yelled at the heroes. Wally flinched and Trickster automatically reeled his anger back as he reached out and ran a hand through Wally's ginger hair in apology.

“His mother wasn't so kind with him either,” Boomer added.

Flash shook his head, disbelieving, “You must be mistaken. There's no way that...” His voice trailed off as he noticed Wally nodding his confirmation, squeezing Robin's hand.

“They did,” Wally said shakily. “I ran away.”

“He showed up at the bar, beat to Hell and barely able to stay conscious from all his injuries,” Heatwave remembered, his hand closing into a tight fist.

“Four broken ribs, several broken fingers, a broken cheekbone, his arm had two breaks – one at his elbow socket,” Mirror Master listed, trying to remain clinical, “several gashes requiring stitches and a mass of sprains and hand shaped bruises.”

Only Batman was able to keep his jaw from dropping in horrified shock as Mirror Master listed Wally's injuries.

“Shit!” Green Arrow cursed, breathlessly.

Flash just stared at Wally, paralyzed by guilt and anger. Robin held up the hand he was holding and eyed it before he ran his gaze over the rest of Wally as if attempting to see if there were any of those wounds listed that he could see.

“You iced his father's arm,” Batman stated, emotionless.

Cold scoffed. “So?”

Batman glared at Cold. “So you just could have  _told_ us.”

Cold raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. The Rogues were looking at Batman dully.

“And you would have believed that Wally's parents were abusing him?” Piper questioned, voice hard.

Flash's shoulder slumped as he replied before any of the other heroes. “..No” His voice was a soft, broken whisper that barely anyone heard.

The other heroes looked conflicted themselves. Cold didn't blame them. They'd been great enough actors to fool them all. It was hard to believe that those two could be so horrible. But they were and that was a fact.

“You fucked up,” Heatwave simply said.

The heroes didn't deny it, although Batman glared at him and he glared right back. “'World's Greatest Detective' my foot,” he growled at Batman. “None of you could tell that one of your own was being abused by his own parents!”

Wally's free hand's fingers twisted in Cold's parka, shivering slightly. Cold sighed and brought his hand up to rub Wally's cheek affectionately. “It's okay, kid. Nothing bad's going to happen to you.” Cold shot the heroes a look that dared them to prove him wrong. He'd ice them in a second.

Superman stared at the scene, immobile and silent.

“No,” Flash agreed, “it won't.”

“You're not taking him back to them,” Trickster hissed at the heroes. The Rogues tightened the area around Wally, boxing him, and by extension – Robin, into their protection.

“We won't.” Batman stated with an uncharacteristically tired sigh. Green Arrow looked sharply at Batman. “So we're just going to leave him with a bunch of criminals?” Green Arrow demanded.

“And why not?” Boomer frowned.

“You're criminals!” Green Arrow growled.

Boomer raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. “So?”

The two were tensed, ready to fight each other when Flash appeared in the middle between the heroes and the Rogues. “Enough!” Flash glared at Green Arrow, who look startled and then guilty.

“Stop acting like an asshole, Arrow!”

Wally raised an eyebrow, biting back a laughter at his uncle's curse. It wasn't every day the Flash cursed after all.

Flash sighed, rubbing his eyes before he looked over at Wally and gently spoke. “Are you happy?”

It was a simple question, but it wasn't what anyone had expected. Wally blinked and responded quickly, “Yes, I am.”

Flash ran his eyes over Wally, looking for any sign of a lie before he nodded. “Okay.”

Green Lantern blinked a few times, the Rogues doing the same. “What? 'Okay?' That's it?”

Flash frowned at him. “Yeah. So?”

“So you're going to leave your nephew with a band of criminals to raise?” Superman asked, not quite sure if his Kryptonian hearing was defective or not.

Flash shrugged. “Why not? They've been taking care of him so far and he seems happy enough.”

“Why?” Green Arrow burst out.

“There's not enough evidence to put his parents in jail,” Batman stated with an unhappy huff. “If we were to take him from the Rogues, he'd just go back with his parents. Even Flash couldn't get custody.”

Robin frowned, leaning closer to Wally as the heroes' shoulders slumped, a helpless feeling settling over them. “You're really happy with them?” he asked, searching Wally's eyes.

Wally smiled and nodded, “I really am.” The Rogues behind him beamed happy and proudly at Wally's affirmation.

Robin nodded, slowly. “Okay. Will you come back to the Team?”

Wally looked up at Cold. “He will,” Cold answered for Wally, seeing the Speedster smile brightly at his answer.

Robin grinned and high-fived Wally. “Oh, yeah!”

Flash smiled at the pair, chuckling. “I know you're doing a good job in Iowa,” Flash said, eyes slipping to Mirror Master who didn't even acknowledge Flash's gaze, “but maybe you can help me in Central and Keystone sometime?”

Wally nodded, vigorously. “I can! Right, Uncle Len?” Cold outright grinned at the slip of his title. It had taken a while for them to get used to, but they loved thinking of Wally as family and how he thought of them as family too. “'Course, kid.”

Flash looked between the two with an odd smile on his face, shaking his head. “Okay then.” He zipped over to stop beside Cold. “Can I stop by sometime and hang out with him?” Cold pretended to think about it before shrugging. “Why not.” He told Flash his private number in a low voice and told him to call before he wanted to hang out, mostly so they'd know which safe house to be at and when to be there.

Despite Green Arrow's earlier protests, he grudgingly let himself mingle with the Rogues, demanding to know what they were doing about his schooling and had to admit that they were handling it well when he was told of the online education.

Batman talked to Wally about getting back in with the Team, who he said missed him greatly. He also complimented Wally's work in Iowa and telling him in a low voice that taking care of an entire state was hard work, even for the Flash but he was doing well. He also invited Wally over to the Manor sometime now that they could do that. It would have to be through the back door since Wally West was officially missing, but they'd make do. Robin was ecstatic about that.

Green Lantern and Superman talked with Mirror Master and Heatwave about how Wally was doing and how they were keeping him safe from the public's eye. They even got to mentioning how they would be willing to help with expenses or watching him while they did their business.

They broke away with each hero hugging Wally for a lot longer than Trickster felt comfortable with, but Piper held him back from dragging Wally away from them. Flash promised to visit soon and hugged Wally telling him in a whisper that he'd make sure his aunt knew he was safe and maybe he could visit her sometime.

Everyone breathed a tired sigh as they returned to the safe house. It had turned out great. Hartley muttered something about having wanted to bring down the Watchtower, but maybe next time. The heroes were letting him keep Wally and they'd keep him safe from his parents. It was more than they'd hoped for.

“Pizza?” Len asked after they'd all dressed down in their civvies. James' eyes twinkled. “And cake?” Mick rolled his eyes, smiling. “We can do cake too, can't we Len?”

Len shrugged and handed his card to Mick. “Well, since you volunteered...” Mick huffed, good naturedly and took the card. “Fine, fine.” He took Digger and Sam and went out to get pizza and cake while James and Wally looked through Netflix to see what movie they could watch.

They finally settled on  _Pixels_ , making themselves comfortable with plates of pizza (or in Wally's case a pizza box) and cake. Hartley passed out sparkling juice to everyone.

“To Baby Flash!” James squealed, happily. Everyone raised their glasses, Wally grinning like he'd just won the lottery. They drank, smiling at Wally as they began eating and watching the movie. He was theirs.

Wally never expected to end up with the Rogues, especially not like this. After being broken and hurt so often by his parents, he'd never expected to be treated so nicely. Sure, his uncle and aunt were kind to him, but they'd never noticed he'd been hurt, that his parents were hurting him. Living a lie for so long he'd given up hope, but he found it here with the Rogues. He found a home with them. He was safe and happy with thieves.

**Author's Note:**

> This hasn't been beta-ed, so I'm sorry for any mistakes I've made. It originally started as a short idea, but I kept writing and writing for several hours with just enough time for a few breaks and this is how it turned out. It's my first fanfic of this type. Please let me know what you think. I hope you enjoyed.  
> Thanks!


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